From Giant Asteroids To Killer Robots, The Greatest Threats To Humanity

Humanity is going to bring about its own destruction, if this list of top threats to our species is any indication.

It feels like the world is already crumbling sometimes, between the devastating wildfires in California, the violent political conflicts that break out around the globe and other natural and manmade dangers. But humanity is still hanging on, even if it seems at times to be by a thread. That might change in the future, however.

AsapSCIENCE has a list of things that are most likely to cause the end of days for mankind, and it is a sad commentary on the world we have created for ourselves. Although the bottom of this greatest hits list includes things that are completely out of our control, like random asteroid strikes and enormous volcanic eruptions, the top five threats would all be conditions of our own making.

They include the most obvious disaster, climate change, which could kill off humans if melting glaciers make sea levels rise enough to submerge cities, and if natural disasters like hurricanes and heat waves grow more intense. Climate change’s potential effects reach far and wide: Melting glaciers can also trigger volcanoes; warmer temperatures put marine ecosystems in danger and hurt animals; cause droughts that kill plants; and spreads disease or worsens it within humans; among many other consequences.

But there are other serious manmade threats, including nuclear war, overpopulation and artificial intelligence that carries out its designed orders in a murderous fashion.